Harry Potter and the Edge of Life
by SoberDylan
Summary: After the war, everything is destroyed. Death has permeated everything, but amidst all the tragedy, two people come back into Harry's life, two people who will set life in motion. Can they help rebuild the wizarding world, after all that has happened?
1. Chapter 1

Harry still had nightmares of the day he died, even now, months after the battle. He would wake screaming in the middle of the night, in his room on the first floor of 12 Grimmauld Place, and Kreacher would bring him a cup of tea and stay with him until the cold sweats subsided.

Hermione and Ron had returned to their families, Hermione thankfully finding her parents in Australia and restoring their memories. They were still very angry at her, but she was working on it. Ron and the Weasleys were in mourning for Fred.

Harry avoided The Burrow, feeling guilty for his slowness, for not working out sooner that he had to die. If he had watched Snape's memories earlier he could have saved Fred, or so he thought. Ron and Ginny wrote imploring letters, even in their grief, for him to come and be with them. Hermione, too, wrote letters full of common sense, appealing to his sense of reason, but he didn't open them.

After a while, they stopped writing.

He woke one morning two months after the battle, feeling marginally better. He went downstairs and made breakfast, sitting at the kitchen table. He tried not to see the ghosts of his friends that had sat there so often. A pile of post was on the table, and for the first time he felt a flicker of curiosity and he reached for the first letter.

Hermione. Ron. Ginny. Molly. Arthur. George, even. Kingsley. Andromeda. Luna.

The first few letters were simply trying to convince him to stop being a recluse. There were invitations to dinner at the Weasleys; to attend his own birthday party, to attend the funerals of Fred, Remus and Tonks. He felt a sharp pain in his gut as he noticed the dates on the letters. He had missed saying goodbye to his friends, had been lost in his own guilt and shame. How selfish had he been?

The letter from Kingsley was a question. Do you want to join the Auror programme?

Luna's letter, however, was puzzling. She spoke about the Veil, about her early graduation from Hogwarts and job in the Department of Mysteries. She talked of a 'great shock', 'a realisation that magic is infinite and without boundaries', and that 'Harry had torn nature's laws by his sacrifice'.

And she ended the letter with a final, mind-blowing sentence.

"Harry, your parents are alive."

The date on the letter was today.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily and James Potter sat in the Head Unspeakable's office, pale and silent. The last moments of their lives filled their heads: James' last stand, the flash of green light, the final horror that Lily would be in danger and Lily's grief and realisation that she was the last barrier between Voldemort and her son.

The blond haired, blue eyed girl who had been there when they woke came into the office and sat down.

"Good afternoon Mr and Mrs Potter, I'm Luna Lovegood. I'm really sorry, but we're going to have to give you Veritaserum to confirm your identity before we can let you go."

"I thought we were dead," James said, "I remember the Avada Kedavra and fighting Voldemort."

"Me too, I died soon after James, and Harry, oh, poor Harry, I don't know what became of him," Lily cried. James put his arm around her, tears escaping his own eyes.

"I didn't know you were dead, love," he murmured. "I thought, in those last seconds, of the danger you were in, but I hoped."

Lily smiled at him.

"My darling, we're alive now, somehow, and that is what matters. But we must find out what happened to Harry."

Luna smiled at them serenely. She withdrew a vial of clear potion from her robes and placed it on the table. James reached for it first and placed three drops on his tongue, swallowing. His eyes glazed.

"What is your name?" Luna asked.

"James Charlus Potter," he answered, his voice dull.

"What is your Animagus form?"

"A stag," he replied.

"What magical item did you create with your friends?"

"The Marauder's Map."

Luna turned to Lily. Lily took the potion without hesitation, her expression full of wonder and sorrow.

"What is your name?"

"Lily Madelaine Potter."

"What is the form your Patronus takes?"

"A doe," she answered dreamily.

"In the last moments of your life, what did you think?"

"Harry, not Harry, take me, but not Harry," she said, expressionless.

Luna sat back and waited as first James, then Lily, recovered from the effects of the potion.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Lily and James," she said beaming. Lily and James looked at each other.

"What happens now?" James asked.

"And has this happened to anyone else?" Lily asked eagerly.

Luna smiled.

"You can return to your lives. I understand that this may be hard, as the world has changed a great deal. Voldemort was killed, for good, two months ago, and the Death Eaters are being rounded up as we speak. That's the most important thing. Nobody else has come through that Veil," she continued, turning to Lily. "Just you two, and we don't know why, but I have an idea. I'd rather not share it at the moment though."

Lily and James shared an amused look.

"Are you in any way related to Albus Dumbledore?" James asked. Luna shook her head.

"That is a great compliment, however," she said. "He was one of the greatest wizards who ever lived."

Lily felt a rush of sadness. So Dumbledore was dead, too.

There was a knock at the door and Luna stood up, her face alight.

Harry Potter stood on the other side.

* * *

Harry had never moved so quickly. He performed a series of charms on the letter before affirming it was genuine, then rushed upstairs to dress.

"Kreacher, I'll be back later. Get a double room ready, the nicest one in the house," he shouted as he shut the door, "and cook a huge feast!"

Kreacher emerged from the dining room, where he had been dusting.

"Master is going out?" he whispered.

Harry apparated to the Ministry and used the Visitors entrance. He hardly spared a glance for the immense Atrium as he rushed towards the elevators. He sped along the corridor he had travelled so many times in his dreams, and knocked at the round door at the end. It swung open.

"Come this way, Mr Potter," a hooded man said, as they walked along a series of dark corridors.

"Knock on this door," he said, before heading back the way they had come. At least, Harry thought that was the way he had come. He dutifully raised his fist to knock, his arm shaking. He could hear nothing from within.

Seconds later, the door swung open and he saw the backs of two very familiar heads and one Luna Lovegood, smiling at him with the happiest expression he had ever seen on a human being.

"Mr Potter, you're just on time," Luna beamed. "Please come in. I have performed identity checks, so halt that natural suspicion and just accept this great act of love."

Harry approached the desk as his parents turned around. Their eyes widened as they saw his dark, messy hair and emerald eyes, identical to his mother's.

"Harry?" Lily said, gripping James' hand for support.

Harry felt his eyes mist up.

"They remember nothing but their last moments," Luna said.

Harry smiled.

"You succeeded, Mum," Harry said, "you too, Dad."

James shouted in delight and stood, rushing over to Harry and holding him close. Lily still sat there, the sorrow in her eyes fading with every moment.

"You're really okay?" Lily asked, standing and taking Harry from James, holding him close. "Gosh, you've got so big!"

Everyone laughed. Lily stroked her son's cheek, her eyes flicking to the scar on his forehead.

"There's a long story to tell," Harry said, noticing the direction of her eyes, "but I'd rather tell it over dinner. I have a feast prepared and a room for you, at least, in a few hours. I didn't have much notice."

"Where are you living, Harry?" Lily asked.

"At Sirius' house," he answered.

"He takes care of you, then?" James asked eagerly.

Harry sighed and glanced at Luna, who smiled supportively.

"Sirius left me the house," he said, the grief rising within him again. So many people had died. Lily laid a comforting hand on James' shoulder.

"Let's go, then," Lily said. "You can explain it all later."

Luna led them from the department, and Harry Apparated them back to Grimmauld Place once they had left the building. The house emerged from the two on either side and Harry climbed the steps.

"It's still rather…Dark," Harry said hesitantly, as he opened the door. He led them straight to the kitchen, where a warm fire roared and the table was laid for three.

"Master, I have made a small snack for now while the feast is prepared," Kreacher said, his small body swamped by a white apron. Harry smiled fondly at him.

"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry said. He heard a snort of amusement from behind him. James sat down, laughing.

"What?" Harry said.

"Sirius must have got a new house elf, because the one he always went on about was definitely not friendly."

"Same elf," Harry said nonchalantly, sitting down and helping himself to a crumpet and a cup of tea.

"That's your genes coming out then, Lily," James said, his voice gruff. "You could make anyone like you."

Lily beamed at Harry, who basked in his parents' approval.

The story Harry told them was hard for his parents to hear, full of pain and suffering and sacrifice, and it broke their hearts to hear what Harry had done. He felt their anger at Dumbledore grow, the disgust and pity they felt for Pettigrew and their grief at the deaths of Remus and Sirius. Lily even let out a cry of surprise and pain when he reached Snape's part of the story.

"Harry, we…" Lily struggled to express 17 lost years.

"I'll leave you alone for a bit," Harry said. "I ought to go and talk to my friends, tell them the news."

James nodded at him in gratitude and Harry Flooed to The Burrow. Lily and James were left to realise what they had just heard.


	3. Chapter 3

When Harry appeared in the yard at The Burrow, he had approximately one second of peace before he was engulfed by a pair of bony arms and a mane of red hair.

"Harry, you idiot," Ginny mumbled into his shirt. "You missed your birthday."

Harry laughed and hugged her tight.

"I'm so sorry, Gin. I've been a mess, haven't seen anyone."

Ginny looked up at him.

"You look thin," she said. "You know Mum's going to go mad."

Harry sighed.

"Let's get it over and done with."

Ginny took his hand firmly and they entered the house. Breakfast was ongoing, and the entire Weasley family and Hermione stopped eating and looked at him for a moment in silence, before exploding.

"Harry!" "Sit down, eat!" "Where have you been?" "Good to see you, mate!"

"Have you been starving yourself?" Molly asked, as Ginny offered him the seat next to her and she sat gratefully. Molly piled his plate with food.

"Don't talk until you've eaten that."

"But I've got news," he protested.

"Not until you've finished," she said firmly, brooking no further argument.

Harry gave up and started to eat, but he felt Hermione's eyes on him and knew she was perceptive enough to realise something big had happened.

He swallowed his last bite of sausage and set his knife and fork down.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked clearly.

"This morning, I had a letter from Luna," Harry said, "which said that my parents were alive."

Hermione gasped and Ginny gripped his arm in shock.

"I saw them. They're alive, with their last memories being the night they died."

"Why do you think they came back?" Hermione asked, her hands twitching, as if she couldn't wait to get to her books.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know; I'm just happy they are. Luna said something about the laws of nature being broken by my sacrifice."

Harry said the last two words quietly.

"Sacrifice?"

Harry remembered now that he hadn't told anyone what had happened in the forest. They didn't know about Harry being a Horcrux, about him dying. Could he tell them all? He supposed there wasn't any need for secrecy about Horcruxes now that they were all gone and Voldemort defeated.

"Voldemort," he began, and a few of the Weasleys winced, "split his soul in seven to become immortal. Murder was required for each split of his soul. It is a Dark magic that reduces the person who commits it to less than human. Last year, Ron, Hermione and I hunted down these Horcruxes and destroyed them. Tom Riddle's diary, which I destroyed in my second year, was the first."

Everyone glanced at Ginny, who was staring at Harry, a curious expression on her face.

"Dumbledore told me in fifth year about the Horcruxes and why they had to be destroyed. He destroyed one, the Gaunt family ring, and identified another, Slytherin's locket.

"Last year, we broke into the Ministry for Magic and Gringotts, destroying Slytherin's locket and finding another Horcrux, Hufflepuff's cup, in the Lestranges' vault. Hermione and Ron destroyed it with a basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets, and then we found another in the Room of Requirement: Ravenclaw's Diadem."

"But we weren't sure what the remaining two were, until Snape gave me some memories before he was murdered by Voldemort.

"Those memories told me Snape's true allegiance, the identity of the last two Horcruxes and the truth: that he had always loved my mother, and he had been helping us the whole time. He sent us Gryffindor's sword."

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry in amazement.

"But what were the last two Horcruxes?" Ginny asked.

"Nagini, Voldemort's snake, who Neville beheaded with Gryffindor's sword," Harry said, grinning. "I told him to kill it as I went in to the forest."

"Why did you go, Harry? We would have kept fighting, to the end," George said.

"You shouldn't have to, not when I could end it with my death. I was the last Horcrux, you see, made with my mother's death and the evil act of trying to kill a child, and so I had to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated."

Hermione began to cry silently, and Harry could feel Ginny shaking next to him, but he needed to finish.

"It was the only way that Voldemort could be killed. I did it because it had to be done, because I didn't want anyone else to be killed! However, it didn't happen quite the way he wanted. My mother's protection, given to Voldemort when he took my blood, kept me tethered to life while he still lived. So the Killing Curse simply removed the Horcrux.

"I woke in Kings Cross station, and Dumbledore was there to meet me. He explained what had happened, and told me I had a choice: I could go back and finish it all, or move on. I chose to come back.

"Narcissa Malfoy was told to check whether I was dead. She asked me whether Draco was in the castle: I said yes. She then told Voldemort I was dead. He Crucioed me, but it didn't hurt. Then he made Hagrid carry me to the edge of the forest. None of Voldemort's spells were holding. I disappeared under the cloak after Neville killed Nagini and waited until the right moment. Well, you all saw what happened then."

There was a silence, then, that was full of pain and awe and respect.

"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered. "You are the truest Gryffindor that ever was."

"Hear, hear!" George said, standing up and beginning to clap. The others rose and did the same. Harry sat there, embarrassed, as Ginny held his hand so tight he wasn't sure whether she wanted to hurt him. He turned to her. There were tears in her eyes.

"I love you so much, Harry," she said, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. Harry felt warm, comfortable, as if he had finally come home. What had he been thinking the last two months?

"Hey, woah, you guys," Ron shouted, his face scarlet. Hermione laughed and put her arm around him.

"Leave them to it, Ron," Hermione said. "He did sacrifice his life for everyone on earth."

Ron mumbled something unintelligible, but looked at Harry with a proud expression.

"So your selfless act may have disrupted death?" Hermione said.

Harry shrugged.

"Well, they're back. I've just told them the whole story; they have a lot to process."

"We have a lot to process too," Ginny said, standing up and walking from the kitchen.

"Gin?" Harry said, standing up.

"No, please, I'll see you later, Harry, but I need to be alone now," she said, heading into the garden.

"Does she mean it, or do I go after her?" Harry asked the kitchen at large, clueless. Molly smiled at him fondly.

"Saviour of the wizarding world, but he still can't figure out girls," Arthur said.

"Don't tease him," Molly said gently. "Go after her, dear."

Harry ventured out into the garden, spying Ginny's red hair behind one of the apple trees in the orchard. He walked slowly towards her, and she turned to face him when he was a metre away.

"Harry, I'm angry at you," she said bluntly. Harry opened his mouth to speak.

"No, don't interrupt me," she said. "It's something I'll keep getting angry about if we're going to be together, but I need to let you know how I feel.

"Harry, you always try to protect everyone. You did it last year, by breaking up with me and leaving me, to save everyone else. I'm mad that you didn't trust me, but took Ron and Hermione."

"I didn't want to," Harry interrupted quickly.

"Maybe I didn't try hard enough, or maybe I knew my opposition would be Ron as well as you, but I'm mad that you didn't treat me as your equal. Tom Riddle possessed me, Harry. I had that diary for most of my first year. I could have helped you with this, but you overlooked me. Just like I'm mad that you decided to die without saying goodbye."

"You would have stopped me," Harry whispered.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Harry. I'm just saying that in future, if we're going to be together, you have to trust me to support you in your decisions. Trust my advice. You aren't always right."

Harry nodded.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said, stepping towards her. She let him, and he hugged her this time.

"I do trust you. I knew it would be harder on me, and on you, if I said goodbye. I may have lost my resolve. It was the hardest thing I ever did, walking past you.

"And yes, we are going to be together, Gin. I want to, if you want me?"

Ginny laughed.

"Of course I do, idiot. I've been waiting for you these last two months while you were languishing in that dark hole of a house."

Harry laughed.

"It suited my mood."

"Go, on, you'd better get back to your parents," Ginny said. "Leave the whys to Hermione and Luna, and you just enjoy yourself."

They walked back to the house, and Harry took his leave.

"I'll expect you all at six," he said, as he walked to the apparition point.


End file.
